OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 1.00pm.
THE Tunisian club assault on Africa continues this weekend in Cote d’Ivoire when Club Africain play local side Africa Sports in the first leg of the Cup Winners Cup final.
Etoile du Sahel built a one-goal advantage over Moroccan visitors Wydad Casablanca last weekend in the CAF Cup final and Esperance face Raja Casablanca for the Champions League.
Success for the Tunisian teams would complete a unique hat-trick and confirm the North African state as the major force at club level on the continent.
Etoile and Esperance won the previous two editions of the Cup Winners Cup and Esperance and CS Sfaxien emerged victorious in the last two CAF Cup competitions.
Africa Sports, the only sub-Saharan club to reach a final this year, have featured in three Cup Winners Cup deciders, beating Vital’O of Burundi and losing to TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Al-Ahly of Egypt.
Club Africain qualified for the final at the first attempt in 1990 only to come unstuck against BCC Lions, losing 3-0 in Nigeria before salvaging some pride from a 1-1 home draw.
The Tunisians have been the more impressive qualifiers, winning six matches and drawing two with a 17-3 goal tally to which veteran striker Faouzi Rouissi contributed five.
Apart from Tunisian stars like Rouissi and Raouf Bouzayane, the Tunis club can choose Hungarians Mihaly Toth and Igor Sanzo, Algerian Rezki Amrouche and Libambani Yedibahoma from Togo.
Africa Sports also boast a cosmopolitan influence with Issoufou al-Hassane and Mounkaila Ide from Niger and Jean-Sylvestre N’keoua from Congo supplementing a host of household Ivorian names.
With 22 wins in 24 home Cup Winners Cup matches spanning 20 years, Africa Sports are entitled to be confident. However, the manner in which Club crushed semi-finalists Al-Masry in Egypt suggests they will be formidable foes. — AFP